. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Ring-billed Gull times breast the wave with uplifted wings, eager to seize the incoming dainties. And if flight be necessary, it is always down the beach slope with a run which takes them to the water's edge. In this fashion one may drive a shifting company of Ring-bills before him for hours, yet without learning very much of their habits. Proceeding once along a beach road which paralleled a northern inlet, as the tide neared the flood, I caug
. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Ring-billed Gull times breast the wave with uplifted wings, eager to seize the incoming dainties. And if flight be necessary, it is always down the beach slope with a run which takes them to the water's edge. In this fashion one may drive a shifting company of Ring-bills before him for hours, yet without learning very much of their habits. Proceeding once along a beach road which paralleled a northern inlet, as the tide neared the flood, I caught sight of a newly-arrived com- pany of these Gulls upon an outer reef. Noting a bar midway between them and the beach, to which they would be likely to retire if not alarmed, I stole up to a sheltered spot commanding a view of the latter location. Here at close range I had the satisfaction of seeing the birds alight gracefully one by one until a company of twenty-six awaited the last advances of the tide. One mem- ber of the flock had his suspicions of the dark object ashore, and pub- lished them from time to time in a high-pitched note of protest. In uttering this the bird first thrust his head forward with mandibles far apart, and began squealing. This noise he continued with in- creasing volume, while throwing his head straight up, and then further, like a dog baying the moon. In subsiding, he came to "position" again, and ended by droning a lower and finer note, with mandibles either slightly ajar or closed outright. Without further retreat the flock awaited quietly the oncoming of the tide, and allowed it to lift them, like stranded boats, clear of their anchorage, after which they swam slowly out to sea. Although rated as the "Common Gull" of the Great Lakes and the Atlantic seaboard, and recorded, rightly enough, as "common in winter along the coast of southern California" there is a singular dearth of posi- tive information regarding this
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1923
